The right choice
by justance
Summary: "He had that power to always make her feel weak in the knees" / Spaleb OS
1. Chapter 1

Spaleb Oneshot / Une nouvelle inspiration, j'espère que ça vous plaira. :) Désolée pour ceux qui sont entièrement contre Spaleb, personnellement je les adore séparément et encore plus ensemble et pour moi Spencer n'a rien à se reprocher mais ce n'est que mon avis. :) Je l'ai écrite en anglais comme vous pouvez le voir mais si quelqu'un souhaite que je la traduise en français il suffit de me le demander je ferais ça dès que j'ai un petit moment. :)

For those who can read in english, sorry for all of my mistakes... english is not my native language ...

Enjoy ! Justance. :)

She had usually been considered as the smart one, the one being reasonable, and the one who never needs to be put back on the right track. Well, usually because sometimes, life can be more complicated than only choosing between what is right and what is wrong. Life itself isn't defined by the color black or white; sometimes life can be grey as well. She can clearly hear the voice of her dad saying "it's about doing the right thing munchkin, even though it may be the hardest. It's about being aware of what you did wrong and try to make it right again".

She had believed him at the time, strongly, with the candor of her young age. Spencer had believed that she had to be a good person and that in order to succeed; she had to be the best at everything she did. She grew up with the will to always be the cherry on top. She was not the one who would fail and say "it's the taking part that counts". No. Spencer was a fighter. She was the one capable of solving any problem. She was the one with the word "valedictorian" written on her forehead. She was always making the right choice. But as time went by, she realized that doing the right thing was easier when inner feelings were not involved, she realized that even when you think that you're making the right choice, even when it feels right, there will always be other people thinking otherwise. You're trying but in their eyes, you're failing.

She had usually been considered as the smart one. Today, she was considered as the bad friend. Five years had passed and she was the one breaking the so called girl code. What was that exactly about anyway? Was it really her fault? Someone once said "you can't choose who you love. It just happens".

And it did happened. She had tried not to show him how she felt, she had tried to put these feelings aside because Hanna's one of her best friends. But Hanna's engaged now and the more she was spending time with him, the hardest it had become not to just say "I love you". She knew she was falling for him, hard. But still, there was Hanna, her friend with whom she had gone through hell. He was her first love and to have the smallest feeling for him would be seen as the biggest betrayal and Spencer didn't want to be the bad guy.

They had all come back to the place where everything had started and he was always in her mind. She was aware of the fact that she wasn't allowed to feel that way as a friend but she just couldn't help it. She wanted him. She needed him. He had that power to always make her feel weak at the knees.

"Just choose me, pick me, love me".

That's what she had wanted to tell him since they had become so close after Madrid. Now that she had tasted life with him, she was just addicted. Addicted to his scent, addicted to the sensation of his lips crashing on hers, addicted to his touch, addicted to the sound of his voice saying "you're beautiful". It had been a long time since she had someone looking at her like that, making her feel like jelly. The last one was Toby.

Some people might think that she's a hypocrite, that she's not a real friend. A friend would never do that as they say. Well, screw them all. Everyone could judge her but in her mind, being with him was the best choice she had ever made in her life. Her father wasn't entirely right. She wasn't old enough to understand at the time but now she knows that doing the right thing is also about what makes you happy and she wished everyone could see that Caleb, was making her feel alive again. She wasn't stealing Hanna's first love because Hanna had someone else now. She was only trying to finally be happy and happiness, is what a real friend should be concerned about.


	2. The plan

They were sitting in the Hastings' barn, talking about a plan Spencer had just been told about. She wanted this to end of course, she wanted that new A, or whoever it was, gone for good, but she didn't want Hanna to be put in danger either. It was her plan though. Well, her and Caleb's. She wasn't the jealous type of girl but she couldn't deny the fact that Caleb and Hanna had history together. They had been through a lot together and it's not something that just disappears like that.

She was sitting on a chair next to the couch they were both on, a glass of red wine in her hand. She had that feeling at the pit of her stomach when she was looking at them that didn't want to let go. She was angry, hurt and scared at the same time. She was scared that he was going to leave her for Hanna and for the first time in a long time, she was feeling insecure. She had the sensation of something burning inside her, like her chest was going to explode and she wasn't able to breathe properly. Emily must have seen her tightening her glass of wine a little too hard because she looked at her before asking what was her thoughts on the plan and the only thing she wanted to say was "honestly, I feel like I'm going to throw something at someone, I feel like someone's squeezing my heart right now and I can't breathe" but instead she just replied "well, I'm happy somebody finally came up with a plan, 'cause I'm all tapped out". Emily was obviously not convinced but all Spencer could really think about was Hanna enlacing her fingers with Caleb's saying that they would follow their plan no matter what. She rolled her eyes at them and quickly got up. She couldn't take it anymore; she couldn't watch them being all cozy on _her_ couch with the man _she_ gave her the green light to be with. She wasn't going to stay there and watch them get flirty, this was too much to handle.

She was pouring herself another glass of wine when Emily came to talk to her.

"Do you think Hanna's aware of the risks she is taking?" she asked her with concern. She wasn't sure that all of this was a good idea.

"Yeah Em, she knows" she replied harshly, "and she's trying to steal my boyfriend too" Spencer said to herself, her eyes shooting daggers at them.

"And you're just gonna let the two of them run this?!"

"It's _their_ plan! What do you want me to do? Watch myself in between them on the sofa?!" Spencer had that look on her face which was saying "I'm fucking pissed off right now". She didn't even notice Caleb pulling out his hand out of Hanna's a minute ago, she was too angry to pay attention to anything anyway.

They left half an hour later.

"I'll be right back okay?" Caleb said, looking at her from the other side of the room while she was standing behind the kitchen counter looking very interested by one of her mom's campaign flyers. She wasn't looking at him; she didn't want him to see her on the edge of crying. She was feeling so angry that she preferred to turn around and put her glass into the sink. Maybe she was just going to do the dishes; distraction was a good way to take her mind away after all. It took a minute or two before she heard the sound of the barn's door being closed. Caleb wanted to see her face, to show her that nothing had changed between them but he knew she needed time and he wasn't going to force her in front of Emily and especially not in front of Hanna.

"Spencer, you're okay?" Emily had approached her from behind, gently putting a hand on her left arm.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She replied harshly and quite ironically. She didn't want to be mean towards Emily but she knew she wasn't entirely supportive of her new relationship and she wasn't really in the mood for a chat about how she should have known that it would be complicated if she ever dated Caleb. She only wanted to say "fuck you all because what just happened wasn't okay, what Hanna just did was NOT okay".

"Okay… well, I'm gonna call Aria to fill her in on the plan, I won't be long".

Emily knew that this all situation was awkward but Spencer was as much her best friend as Hanna was and she wanted what was best for her, she wanted her to be happy. While she was on the phone with Aria, Spencer let herself remember the night following her encounter with Caleb in Madrid. She remembered how he had offered her to follow him to Morocco.

"A ferry ticket doesn't cost that much" he had told her, the breeze mixed with the sound of his low voice giving her goosebumps.

"Yeah…but I have to be back at Georgetown by the end of the month…"

"We'll skip Casablanca…"

She had felt a burning sensation inside her that night and he had looked at her in a way he never had before. They had smiled and laughed at the awkwardness of the moment; both feeling like the sudden heat wasn't because of the outdoor temperature.

She got out of her torpor when she heard the front door being shut down. She had her hand in the sink full of water and soap. She turned her head around to check if it was Emily but saw Caleb standing in the living room. Emily came from the bedroom at the same time and stopped in her gait.

"I'm gonna go see Aria at her parents' place, I'll call you okay?" she said, feeling like she had to let them alone. They needed to talk.

"You're sure? You can stay, don't feel like you have to go" Spencer said suddenly. She took a towel that was laying around to dry her hands with and moved out from the kitchen area.

"Don't worry, I have things to do anyway but call me if you need anything okay?" she told Spencer with a meaningful look, hoping she would understand that she was there for her.

"Okay, thanks" she replied with a small smile, "be safe" she added.

"I will" Emily said before she took her jacket and closed the door behind her.

The room remained silent since neither of Spencer or Caleb were talking.

"I'm gonna finish cleaning the kitchen" Spencer said, moving to the kitchen counter, not looking at him.

"Spencer, wait…" Caleb said, lowering his voice to be sure she heard him. And she did. She froze into place but didn't turn around, her back still facing him. She didn't hear him come closer but she could feel him brushing one of her hands with his from behind her.

"Don't act like that, please…" he said in a soft voice.

She closed her eyes. She wasn't used to feel that way, she didn't want him to see her that weak, to see the pain on her face.

"Spencer…look at me…" he pleaded, squeezing her hand, " _Spence_ …" he repeated, taking her by the arm forcing her to face him. He put his hand on one of her cheeks and she closed her eyes again at the feeling.

"Talk to me Spencer…"

"Talk about _what_?!" She snapped, before shoving his hand away from her.

"Oh, come on Spence! Don't give me the cold shoulder!"

"I'll do whatever I want! And if I piss you off like that then why don't you just go hang out with Hanna instead?!" she shouted angry and frustrated.

"Why would I go hang out with Hanna?! Is this about earlier?" he asked, taken aback at her sudden change of mood.

"If you still have feelings for her Caleb, then tell her! Just go and tell her because I can't watch you too lingering on each other powerless! I won't be the girl who says pick me not her! I won't Caleb!" She was crying now. She had been fighting it for an hour but wasn't able to control it anymore. She put one hand on her mouth to cover a sob. Caleb moved from where he was standing towards her. He placed himself next to her and took her face in his hands, brushing her hair back to see her beautiful brown eyes. She looked at him and he smiled at her.

"Why are you smiling? There's nothing funny in what I'm saying right now!" she said with a reproachful tone.

"You're jealous" he said, his smile growing bigger.

" _What_?"

"Don't deny it, you're cute when you're jealous" he said, still smiling. She was now standing in front of him. She was a bit smaller than him and was stuck between Caleb's body and the counter. She put her hands on his clothed chest and met his eyes with hers, pouting.

"Don't make fun of me" she wanted to rip that smile off his face. It was driving her crazy and all she wanted was to feel his lips on hers and his hands on her skin.

"I'm not, I kind of like it when you're jealous and you were quite hot when you started shouting" he whispered, kissing her just below her ear. She couldn't help but smile when he finally crashed his lips on hers.

"I'm still mad at you, you know" she mumbled against his lips.

"She was the one flirting with me Spence, and I pulled my hand away immediately, you just didn't see it and I don't want to get back with Hanna because I have feelings for a very smart and attractive brunette. I actually have a huge crush on her" he slowly said while moving his fingers up her right arm, looking at her seductively.

"Is that so..? And what is she like…?" she asked flirtatiously. She had totally forgotten how upset she was and only wanted to feel his hands on her.

"She's sexy…like _very_ sexy", his hands were now moving up her body making her want for him almost unbearable, "She likes coffee and drinks way too much of it for her own good"

"Hey!" she said hitting him playfully on the shoulder.

"She can be quite bossy sometimes as well" he continued, holding his shoulder where she had hit him, grinning.

"Caleb!" She laughed. He was such a dork.

"But I love it when she laughs" he said caressing her lips with his thumb, "there are so many things I love about you…"

He was looking at her in such a way, she was sure he was going to be the death of her.

"Are you sweet talking me so you can get me into your bed?" she asked him amused, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, technically, it's _your_ bed", he murmured, reaching for her hips so he could make her sit on the kitchen counter, "but I can get you anywhere anyway"

"Cocky enough?" she smiled, hooking her thin legs around his body and encircling her hands around his neck.

"I really don't feel like talking right now" he whispered on his lips, softly brushing her nose with his and caressing her long bare legs.

"What do you want to do then…?" she whispered back, slowly losing control. She was intoxicated by his scent and she couldn't help but moan when, as an answer to her question, he bite on her earlobe.

"Caleb…" she half moaned, her fingers gripping on the hair at the back of his head.

"Yeah…?" his voice was husky. She looked at him and when she saw the burning flame of desire in his eyes, she finally gave in and crashed her lips on his.


	3. The aftermath

"I'm sorry…" he said in almost a whisper, knowing that it was the last thing she wanted to hear him say.

"You can be…"

The tension in the room was palpable. They were both standing in the barn's bedroom, both on the opposite side of the bed. They had spent the night talking, laughing, celebrating the fact that they had finally found Hanna alive and that her mother was Rosewood's new senator. They had shared one of these moments she never wanted to end. But it did. In fact, when she had get out of the bathroom, ready to lay next to him in the bed they were sharing, she had found him sitting at the edge of it, still fully clothed, waiting for her with a look that held nothing good. Now that he had told her he'd kissed Hanna the night before she had disappeared, she just wanted to be as far as possible from him. She wanted him to know she was upset, she wanted him to see the pain on her face. Angry tears were rolling down her cheeks and she felt like someone had ripped her heart out of her chest. She didn't understand why he would let her fall in love with him and cheat on her with her best friend. She used to know how to handle not being the chosen one; she used to always come second in her family, always coming after Melissa. But it was supposed to be different now.

"I don't understand though, why did you let me believe that you actually felt something for me when you obviously didn't?!" she asked him bitterly. And when he opened his mouth to answer, she didn't let him the time to and went on, talking more to herself than him, "I'm such a _fucking idiot_! I freaking believed you! And the worst part is that I even told you that I _loved you_!" She ran one of her hands through her hair nervously and closed her eyes a second to restrain herself from crying again.

"I do care about you Spence…" he started saying while moving towards her. He wanted to show her that it wasn't like that. He wanted to close the gap which was keeping her so far away from him.

"DON'T! Don't tell me you care about me when it's not true! This is _bullshit_ Caleb!" She was yelling now. He tried to take her hand in his but she quickly pushed it away. It was clear, given by the look on his face, that he was hurt by her gesture, but she didn't care. He deserved it.

"If I didn't have feelings for you, I wouldn't be here now; I wouldn't be trying to apologize." He was trying to stay calm and looked into her beautiful brown eyes when he said that. He could look into her eyes for hours. Caleb knew he had screwed up but he had been caught up in the moment that night and had regretted what he had done immediately afterwards. He wasn't entirely sure about how he felt about Hanna that night but he had never doubted about his feelings for Spencer. She was Spencer. That strong, smart, beautiful woman he couldn't help but fall in love with. Kissing Hanna had made him realize how much he was in love with Spencer. He will always love Hanna because of who she was for him, because of what they had shared together. But he had fallen madly in love with Spencer Hastings over the years. Now, he was there, in the bedroom, between the bed and the closet, standing in front of her, watching her crying and shouting because of his stupidity.

"Don't touch me! You don't get to do that when you go around flirting with your ex-girlfriend in a creepy hotel room where nothing good has ever happened! Not to mention that your ex-girlfriend is also one of my best friends! I feel like this is kind of a sick joke! _You_ are the one who told me I had nothing to be worried about! That I didn't have any reasons to be jealous!"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" he said loudly, louder than he had intended to, but he just wanted to explain everything. He didn't want her to believe that he had been using her the all-time when he really wasn't.

"WHAT IS IT LIKE THEN?!"

"I FUCKING DO LOVE YOU SPENCER! Don't you GET that?!"

"Yeah _sure_ I'm going to believe you and throw myself on you because I'm so _fucking_ _stupid_ right?! You kissed my _best friend_ behind my back just after I told you that I loved you! How SICK is that Caleb?!"

"I know it was stupid! I know I screwed up _okay_?! I don't know what I was thinking about! But I know that I regretted it the minute I realized what I was doing! I regret it because I _know_ that I love you Spencer!"

She closed her eyes, frustrated. The words coming out of his mouth were supposed to make her happy but it just hurt even more.

"I wish you wouldn't have to cheat on me to realize that…" she replied in a soft voice while sitting on the bed, her face in her hands. She was still mad but she was also in pain. She wanted to trust him, to believe him. But right now, all she could think about was her boyfriend and her best-friend cheating on her. She was picturing them in that hotel room, Caleb's hands roaming on Hanna's body while she was trying to deal with A and her mother's election. She didn't want to think about all that crap, she wanted to be alone and sleep. It had been really hard for her to trust someone after Toby. Toby used to be her anchor, her safe place to land and when he had left, she'd had no one else to go to anymore. She had stayed alone in Washington DC, crying her heart out and wondering about what could have happened if they had been more careful at the time, if things had been different. The idea of being pregnant had scared her so much that it had torn them apart in the end. And then, when she had been finally in for a fresh start by flying to Europe, she had met Caleb in Madrid. They'd always had a special bond but their time together in a foreign country had brought them closer. They had talked, they had shared things, they had laughed and flirted. Clearly, they had never felt any guilt in Spain at the time because they were miles away from the current struggles of their lives. However, reality sets in all too quickly and they'd soon had to go back to their hometown. Their feelings had never gone away though and soon enough, people had started to notice that something was up.

"When did that happen?" had asked Melissa suspiciously.

"Caleb? We're friends"

But Melissa hadn't believed her. They weren't close as sisters but Melissa knew her little sister well enough to know when she was lying.

"Maybe you're more comfortable with lying than you think" And she had been right. Spencer had been lying, but mostly to herself because admitting her feelings for Caleb would have meant telling her friends about it and maybe face his rejection. But she had done it anyway, maybe to prove herself that she was moving on, to prove herself that she wasn't afraid or maybe just because she needed to know.

She had felt like she was in heaven when he had kissed her back. She had felt like dying when he had taken her to the bedroom afterwards. The same bedroom they were now. Their relationship was passionate and frankly speaking, they've never had enough of each other. She blushed every time he looked at her with his piercing chocolate brown eyes, scanning her body across the room in a way it was almost scandalous. But she loved it. She loved the way he was making her feel.

She had got up from the mattress and was now faking being busy dusting the bed's pillows while he had not moved from his spot at the foot of the bed, still looking at her moving frantically around the bed.

"Did you hear me?" he asked breaking the almost uncomfortable silence which had settled in the room.

"Hear _what_?!" she squeezed one of the pillows more firmly and he was grateful that it wasn't him instead. She was mad as hell, he could tell. He knew her body language by heart, "About you making _sweet love_ to my _best friend_ 's mouth?! Yeah I _heard_ that thank you!" she snapped at him. She was looking at him with daggers coming out of her eyes. He grinned at her and she wanted to slap him across the face for making fun of her. Spencer crossed her arms on her chest defensively, a frown on her face.

"God I love you so much"

She froze into place at his words. He had said it before, minutes ago actually, but she had turned her back at him. She hadn't wanted to believe anything coming out of his mouth anymore. But this time was different. He had said it, looking at her in such a way that even her, Spencer Hastings, the one who always knew the answer to everything, didn't know what to say. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice him approaching her from behind. He was so close she could smell his perfume, feel his fingers slightly touching her bare skin, and feel his breath on her collarbone.

"Caleb…" she started saying, her voice shaking. She could feel his body against hers and it was so hard for her to resist him.

"You're beautiful" he whispered, his breath tickling the nape of her neck.

When she felt his lips brushing against her collarbone and his hands slowly moving up and down her hips, she just couldn't take it anymore. She let out a sigh of pleasure before she turned around and crashed her lips on his. He didn't think twice and replied to her kiss immediately, bringing her closer to him. She firmly grabbed at his hair with one of her hands and it drove him insane. He stepped backwards and quickly pinned her against the wall behind them, causing a small gasp to escape from Spencer's mouth. There was something about the sounds she was making when they were intimate, something about the way she was slowly moving one of her hands under his shirt, about the way her tongue was dancing with his that made his desire for her almost painful. Their breaths were erratic and he clasped her hands on the wall with his, hanging them above her head. Caleb started kissing her below her ear and smiled victoriously when she moaned, knowing that he had reached her weak spot. He slowly made his way towards her neck and felt her heart beating faster when he suddenly bit on her skin.

"Caleb…" she moaned louder than she had intended to. She tried to let go of his hold, wanting to touch him but he didn't let her. Instead, he gripped more firmly on her hands to prevent her from moving, his mouth still playing with the skin on her neck.

"Spencer…?" he scarcely asked, panting.

"Prove it to me…" she sighed with a smoldering look.

"Prove what…?" he whispered questioningly, not sure of what she was asking him to do. He had loosened his grip on her hands and she took the opportunity to let go of his hold and take his shirt off. She seductively ran her fingers across his chest and looked into his chocolate brown eyes. His eyes had darkened during their make out session and she bit on her bottom lip to prevent another moan to escape from her mouth.

"You shouldn't do that babe…you know it drives me crazy…" he groaned, kissing her fiercely while he started to unbutton her lacey black blouse. She dug her fingers into the skin of his back causing him to moan loudly.

"What do you want me to prove you Spence…?" he knew he couldn't take it much longer. He wanted her so much.

She put her hands around his neck and moved her lips slowly to his right ear. Caleb closed his eyes, feeling like he was going to die if she kept teasing him like that.

"Prove me that you love me…" she whispered in his ear before she bit on his earlobe and feeling her teeth biting on his skin made him totally lose control.

"Anytime" he replied, taking her to the bed on which they both fell onto, grinning.

"I love you Caleb" she panted against his lips, encircling his hips with her bare legs. He was standing above her and had his hands on both sides of her head. Caleb detached his lips from hers and looked at her intensely.

"I love you too Spence" he murmured softly, brushing his lips against hers, "and I'm pretty sure I love you more" he teased her while his hands were dangerously moving to her thighs.

"Shut up and kiss me Rivers" she scarcely replied, breathing heavily.

"Gladly Miss Hastings" he smiled before kissing her passionately. He was going to show her how madly in love with her he was, even if it had to take all night.


End file.
